Tricky course might current a possibility to locals as Indian Open returns to Gurugram

When answering a query from a fan on Twitter again in 2018, former World No. 33 Eddie Pepperell mentioned the course on the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram was “designed by Satan”.

After a four-year-long COVID-induced break, India’s nationwide golf championship – the $2 million Hero Indian Open – returns to that course on Thursday. Ever because it debuted on the DP World (previously ‘European’) Tour in 2017, the course has been the most important speaking level of the occasion.

You’re proper Ian I didn’t enter as by no means deliberate to play them. Tshwane out of protest for not getting in final yr (🤣) and India as a result of, properly, that course was designed by Satan. https://t.co/JSb1Nf2VeG

— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) March 1, 2018

Even a number of the extra seasoned professionals have struggled in Gurugram previously: the large man-made lakes require tight driving, the foam-facing bunkering wants a superb wedge recreation, and the quick greens and difficult tough don’t normally permit low scores.

Courses as difficult as this normally make prime golfers look a bit clueless – and there’s a level to be made whether or not that’s self-defeating for the game within the first place.

Nevertheless, those who have made their method again to the venue this yr know full properly that the difficult nature of the course – particularly the ultimate three holes – could cause some unpredictable outcomes. Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen, recent off his win on the Thailand Classic final week, is cautious of letting his type make him complacent.

“I think all the guys have said a lot about the golf course and what you need to do and it’s going to be a different week,” he instructed media on Tuesday. “The 16th, 17th and 18th, which is like an uphill climb and has the waterfall – I haven’t played it yet.”

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, who joins his countryman and defending champion (2019) Scott Gallacher within the area, aced the sixteenth gap in follow, however defined simply how difficult the again three is perhaps.

“I’ve heard a lot of stories about how difficult and almost wild it is. I played the back nine today and stood on the 15th and thought: ‘This is alright here, we can deal with this’, and then the last three and a half holes blew my mind a little bit,” he mentioned. “It’s a mental test rather than a test of your golf game.”

Home consolation

This may current a possibility to a robust Indian contingent in Gurugram this week, lots of whom enjoying on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) being well-versed with the course.

Anirban Lahiri, champion in 2015 who has joined LIV Golf – the Saudi-backed upstart league that has disrupted the game’s establishment, and stays one of many huge speaking factors this week in Gurugram – selected to skip the occasion. But veteran SSP Chawrasia – who received the second of his two Indian Open titles (2016, 2017) on the DLF Club – can be within the area.

The 26-year-old expertise Manu Gandas, the PGTI’s Order of Merit topper due to which he now has a full card for the DP World Tour, will even play, and so will Arjuna Awardee Shubhankar Sharma.

Sharma, who grew to become the youngest Indian to win a European Tour title 5 years in the past, believes the course he has performed on since childhood is now much more playable, and has matured since 2019.

“It’s a tough course, one of the more challenging ones on the whole tour,” he instructed reporters on Wednesday. “All the players are talking about the last three holes because they are very hard finishing holes. Especially knowing where the wind is coming from, if it picks up. But that’s what makes it exciting, because it is not over until the final hole here.”

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“Some of the Indians have played more regularly here, so that will help them and serve them well,” he mentioned. “But I expect the top pros who have been in good touch, to be in and around the leaderboard. They will know how to adapt quickly.”